NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2015 - (Page 18)

member profiles Zenith Marketing Group Mike Gorlick Headquartered in Freehold, New Jersey, Zenith Marketing Group has been a NAILBA member since 1997. Mike Gorlick, President and CEO, provided input for this article. About the Agency Founded in 1995, Zenith Marketing Group is a nationally recognized brokerage general agency focusing on life insurance, annuities, longterm care, linked benefit products, Medicare supplement plans, and disability income insurance. Zenith strives to gain a personal understanding of each producer's customer base and goals to provide them with customized solutions and superior back-office support. For two decades, Zenith Marketing Group has been helping producers save time and money, simplify their business, and grow their practices. Armed with extensive experience in insurance products and sales support and an unwavering commitment to customer service, the agency delivers all the tools independent insurance professionals need to achieve exceptional results. Zenith Marketing Group has about 70 employees in offices across the country, including New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Georgia, Iowa, New York, Utah, and Vermont. For more information, visit ZenithMarketing.com. What makes your organization unique? I've asked our brokers why they do business with us, and they constantly say the same thing: "Your commitment to customer service is far above what we get from anybody else in this space." We're not perfect. Of course we make mistakes; but it's what we do once we determine that a mistake has been made that also sets us apart. We have this unrelenting desire to provide outstanding customer service and get it right all the time. That entails everything from product 18 perspectives MAY/JUNE 2015 knowledge to getting the proper underwriting decisions. It's also unique that we have a team of product line specialists, which makes things simple for our producers when they call with questions. We're investing heavily in education so all of our employees are cross-trained. We also put our employees through Ritz Carlton training. In this training, they learn about situational awareness-it's about knowing what the customer wants before they even ask for it. Also, we are product neutral. For example, a producer may ask if it's better to buy a fixed indexed annuity with an income rider or a deferred income annuity for a particular customer. We handle that analysis and we provide the education. We do not lead with product. We want to make sure we find the best solution. Because we have three underwriters on staff, we also evaluate risk very well. Many BGAs have underwriters, but ours are very well-trained, thoroughly understand the market, and are very wellrespected by our partner carriers. We realize we're not alone in this space, and there are great BGA choices out there. That's why we religiously strive to understand and know the voice of our customer. What type of advisor are you trying to attract? We're focusing on recruiting quality agents who go beyond the sale and believe they're working with a noble purpose. Right now, our world is evolving. The agent base we're so used to dealing with, the independent insurance agent, is getting smaller. That's a big con- cern of ours, so we're also looking for distribution through alternate sources. Looking forward, we've expanded and are really targeting regional broker-dealers and regional banks because we think that's where the growth will be as independent agents continue to decrease. Overall, our ideal producer would be someone active in the life and annuity space that has a client base and appreciates service above and beyond what they get from others. Where do you see your organization in the next 5 to 10 or even 20 years? I think Zenith Marketing Group is evolving every day, and I want us to be recognized as one of the preeminent brokerage agencies in the business that is honorable in our actions and honest in our results. Because of the insurance world's evolution, we have to be more aware of the alternate distribution space, such as broker/dealers, banks, and P&C agencies. I think we're going to have a robust platform in those spaces. The big concern we have is this: what if someone comes into our business who has no business being in our business and tries to control our business? For example, what if Google starts selling insurance? We have to build an organization that can withstand those outside pressures. In the future, I see us being a vibrant, well-respected, profitable organization that is distributing product both in the traditional manner with independent producers as well as alternate forms of distribution. The need for insurance will not go away. The question is, who is going to deliver it? http://www.ZenithMarketing.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2015

NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2015
Contents
Chairman’s Corner
CEO Insights
Basic Staff Training: Onboarding Should be Longer than One Day
NAILBA Charitable Foundation
Member Profiles
Mooers Award Nominations
Get Schooled! Ongoing employee Education and Producer Training are Key to a Brokerage Agency’s Success
Agency Successor Networking Group
Life Happens
Reading Ahead
Government Affairs
Calendar of Events
Index of Advertisers

NAILBA Perspectives - May/June 2015